Tips for Taking Public Transportation in Costa Rica

When it comes to taking the bus, the public transportation in Costa Rica can get a little tricky for travelers since there are no schedules posted at bus stops, some bus stops are not easy to recognize and buses in Costa Rica don’t have numbers.

However, the public transportation in Costa Rica is easy to use once you ask around a bit and it is a very cost efficient way to travel around the country. You can save a lot of money on transportation that way!

If you’re planning on taking the bus to get around in Costa Rica, here are our tips for taking the public transportation in Costa Rica so you can have a worry-free and safe trip here.

Important Things to Know About Taking Public Transportation in Costa Rica

Public bus in San Jose – name of destination on the front and bus fare on the side

Buses have their destination written on the front

Many city buses also have the fare on the front as well. They will also have the name of the bus company on it so you can look for that to see if it’s the correct bus.

It is helpful to know a bit of Spanish

Especially numbers to ask how much a fare is since not many bus drivers know English. You can learn them in our introductory guide here. We also have a downloadable and printable cheat sheet that you can bring with you so in case you get lost or need to ask a question, you can show it out to a local.

All bus fare must be paid in colones

You pay the fare as you get on and it must be paid in colones. Buses are on a schedule and drivers don’t have the time to count the exchange rate since there is no automatic machine to pay the fare. You just hand the money to the bus driver and he has a tray of coins next to him.

You don’t need exact change

Bus drivers will give you change if you don’t have an exact amount. Tell the driver once you get on how many people you’re paying for and he will tell you how much it is. Most buses in the city will have the rate on their destination sign on the front.

From San José, you can take a public bus to nearly every tourist destination at affordable rates

This way you will save money to travel more and know more about the country. The only disadvantage of taking the bus is waiting, you do waste time waiting for buses but you save money. The brand new bus stop, the 7-10 has routes to nearly all major destinations and it is recommended to buy tickets the day before or arrive at least 1 hour early.

You may need to purchase a ticket beforehand

This is true for long routes like San Jose to Puerto Viejo or San Jose to Playas del Coco. This is because these routes are very popular (especially around holidays), have assigned seating and have limited buses per day. It’s best to buy at least a day before if you can to guarantee a spot.

Not all bus stops are marked

If you see a bunch of people waiting around in one area, that’s probably a bus stop. Not all of them are marked and majority of them don’t have a schedule so the easiest way is to ask a local. Bus stops usually have a bench and a covering so that’s an indication to look out for. You may also see locals sticking our their arm to stop a bus which is normal.

If you are not sure where a bus is going or the stops it makes, you can ask the bus driver, they are usually nice and can help you but it is better if you can ask in Spanish as not all of them may speak English.

We found a great guide for public transportation in Costa Rica that you can download in the following link (in both English and Spanish).

Use A Bus App

Travel apps are becoming more popular and you can find apps for taxis, restaurants and wildlife and nature for Costa Rica. There’s also an app specifically for taking the public transportation in Costa Rica called Off the Grid Traveler. This is especially helpful if you’re not sure how to ask in Spanish, if you get lost or for when you are planning a trip and you can’t find the information online or somewhere else.

How the free app works:

The app needs data to work the first time in order to load the map, so make sure this is done before your trip when you have access to data or Wi-Fi. After that your map will be loaded and you won’t need data again (unless you use Google Maps).

Select the country – Costa Rica

Select your departure and arrival destination

And that’s it!

After that, just hit find route and it’ll bring up how the exact route you need to take including times, schedule, length of the bus ride and where it is on the map. If your bus route requires you to switch buses, it’ll show you the different legs.

You can use the Google Map function (requires data) to automatically load the navigation from where you are to the bus stop. Just tap on the green arrow above your departing destination on the map and tap “to this location.”

Off the Grid Traveler Costa Rica bus app

This app doesn’t give bus fare however so if you want to know how much fare costs, download the app Yo ViajoBus Info Costa Rica. It is all in Spanish but it does have bus fares. For some of the longer routes, they also don’t give the best option. For example from Liberia to La Fortuna, they will write “Liberia to San Jose, San Jose to La Fortuna” when you can actually take a bus from Liberia to Canas, Canas to Tilaran and Tilaran to La Fortuna. So just be aware of that.

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Taking the public bus in Costa Rica is getting easier with new bus stations and websites that post routes but it can be complicated for long destinations. So if you’re planning on using buses to get around Costa Rica, make sure to research beforehand the bus schedule and stations.

You may also need to consider taking shuttles instead if you’re short on time or you are visiting somewhere that doesn’t have a consistent bus schedule like Montezuma or Osa Peninsula.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Hi.
I wanted to do wildlife photography.
Looking for guide who can take us to main bird’s location.
Can u suggest some guide?
N can v travel without any tour with local buses by managing time?
Too confused abt hw to commute there on our own without tours help.

Hi! Thank you for the advice. I’m traveling to CR in a couple days and this will be my first time out the country. I’m so excited, but a little worried. I wanted to take a shuttle van, but inalso want to save as much as possible. I will be traveling to la fortuna. Is there a bus that goes one way there?

Hi Maria, where are you flying into? There are buses to La Fortuna and buses are the cheapest form of transportation. There are direct buses to San Ramon from San Jose and none from Liberia (you will need to change 2 times) and it also depends when you land.

hi!! I am extremely late to this post but I am currently in Costa Rica and need to travel from San Isidro Del General to Huacas, Guanacaste in the next two days. I am extremely terrified and am a young female traveler. Are there any routes that you know of or tips??

Hi Natalie, if youre taking the bus, the easiest way would be to bus back to san jose, take the bus to tamarindo which passes by Huacas and get off there. But in huacas youll still need to grab a taxo to the hotel or wherever you are going.

Hi Paul, are you coming from San Jose? From San Jose, the bus leaves from San Jose Terminal del Caribe, Calle Central Ave 15, 6:30, 9, 10:30, 1PM, 3 PM, 4:30 PM, 6 PM, 7 PM and 8:30 PM. You can read more information on how to get to the La Pavona dock by bus here: Tortuguero National Park guide

Hey, you have an amazing blog by the way! I will go backpacking in Costa Rica and it already helped me many times!!
I just don’t get how you find a hotel or a restaurant if it just says 100 m west from there and 50 meters south from there and not a real address? Do you always take a compass with you??

You can tell which way is east and west due to the sun and then we usually ask people if we can’t find it. Most addresses will have some sort of landmark you can look for like the bank, school or something and then go from there.

My daughter and I took the bus outside of Liberia airport into Tamarindo and 3 men in cars stopped to ask us for a ride. Is this normal? Why did they stop for just us when there were locals there too? I ignored them and waved one off harshly. Were they dangerous? They saw our luggage.

Hi Liz, actually it’s very normal in Costa Rica. Their culture is super friendly, especially for tourists because it’s such a touristic country. It’s normal for men to offer help, especially to women as that’s how their culture is. I always get stopped when I’m walking by myself from locals asking if I’m OK or if I need a ride. Of course, there are always incidents of not so nice people doing not so nice things so it’s always better when you’re in a foreign country unfamiliar with the culture and people (and looking very much like tourists) to be a bit more wary.

I was wondering maybe you could tell me how much it cost to travel by public trasportation?? I looked at some shuttles and I check car rental but how much will it cost me to go from san jose to la fortuna in public trasportation.

We are a small group of 3 Belgian couples, coming to Costa Rica for about 2 weeks in October. Thanks for the tips! They will no doubt be useful.
We’re still figuring out how we should travel from San José to Cahuita. We will have all our luggage with us so I’m a bit worried about using public transport. Is it safe with luggage and can we stow it away safely?
What about comfort? I read that most public buses have no airconditioning and little space. Is this still true?
Take care
Bettina

Hi Bettina, there is a luggage storage on the bottom of the bus, keep the ticket you get for your luggage and you’ll give it to the person when you get off to pick it up. Never leave your luggage alone and never accept anyone’s offer to watch it for you.

As for comfort, yes most public buses don’t have ac and seats aren’t very comfortable, but it is super cheap so that is the tradeoff.

Absolutely safe and a wonderful country full of wonderful people! Third world though, and not for everyone. I have been there many times in the last eight years and every trip was great. Be respectful, polite, friendly, and expect that in return from the Ticos! If you go just to Guanacaste and the ‘Gringo” areas you are missing the real Costa Rica ‘Pura Vida’. Travel well!!

also a great way to experience their Life and Culture . They are so polite and helpful . ask them questions and practice your Spanish . This is a safe Country , with good hearted people . They`ll be happy to have met you . Pura Vida !

Fantastic post! So much useful info! If I ever get to Costa Rica 🙂 When away we tend to rent a car, as this is giving us a lot of freedom with our movements, but I would never go to London by car, since they have really good tube connection. Besides I like to save my nerves too!

Thanks Monika! Yeah renting a car gives you all the freedom you need for sure, but for those on a budget the public transportation is a good option. I’ve heard the London has a great public transportation system! Hopefully COsta Rica will get one like that here someday